NST June 2018 A JUNE ODESSEY (Staycation)

gien

The end of a glorious day here - spent most of my time working in the garden. I sowed some more seeds and planted out some seedlings so free food in a few weeks time.
Did not spend any money and brought my banking spreadsheees up to date. We have menu planned and DH is going to do a shop tomorrow in our local German hard discount store. I've got my packed lunch already in the fridge for work tomorrow and DD is taking a pack up too. I'm just contemplating picking something me sweet peas and making posies to drop off at our local health food shop (they sell them for £1.50 and I get £1). They are so pretty right now though maybe I shall just have a bunch in the kitchen.
I'm really enjoying my house and garden at the moment, very grateful for that.

2/20 NSD

cybertortoise

Checking in with my third NSD, not because I have any will power but because I have no money haha. My internet has been spotty the last few days so I have been unable to check in, hopefully thats fixed now and I can do so daily.

apple_muncher

Thank you for the screening ideas. I ended up making some plastic bunting out of old plastic bags and string. It's a start...! Tomorrow I may pop to liddle and see if they have any tallllllll plants.

grateful today for getting my marking done and still having family time, for dd enjoying her hwk tasks, for glorious weather, for the smell of freshly mown grass, for joyful fabrics, for the bunting, for lots of veggies for tea, for the raspberry canes growing like triffids!

f0xh0les

A - Nothing tempting me today I was too busy
J - NSD 1/20
U - All food from stores. Made pizza as it was so warm, I did not even put it in airing cupboard
N not a single takeaway or unicorn
E - Made berries and yogurt layered up in wine glasses. Kids had ice cream and crunchy cereal on top of theirs too.
Offered help to DH, but he told me I am a nuisance, so Iwent back up my ladder.
D -No debts
E - Did a ladder workout - painting up a ladder - for hours
S - Thought I had budgets done, but forgot £66 for after school clubs.
S - Charity shop bag getting bigger
E - Here I am!
Y - I am a painting wizard!!

Unicorns are much more plentiful 'round here than takeaways or cofffee shop visits. But as an endangered mythical species, I promise I will not eat the Unicorns.

There ought to be a sign somewhere. Do not feed the Unicorns

RE: Fencing
If it is your fence, you could stick a conctrete base panel in the bottom and raise your wooden panel, if it is not your fence, then trellis - but your neighbours might get a bit ornery if you start nailing stuff to their fence. Or bamboo canes woven into a trellis could be a good cheap option. And you can easily go 6 feet. I made a pretty sturdy construction out of bamboo canes in a garden once. Freecycle for them though, someone might be able to help you out for 0 pence. Or if they have bamboo growing - ask for a clump/ cuttings.


One of our neighbours was in her 80s, and every time I went in the back garden she asked what plans we had for the garden, and wasn't the fence a total eyesore, and that it was falling down, and that our garden would look much nicer with a better fence, it went on and on and I felt so bad about it I finally went out and bought quite expensive wavy fence panels with trellis tops and painted and fitted them all one Sunday morning.

She went mad - i honestly thought she was going to keel over - as I had painted them with wood preserver in green, and she did not like green so I went straight out and bought brown paint, and painted her side of them poo brown to match the other nasty rotten panels in her garden, but she still wasn't happy as they were too short at 5 feet, so I went out and bought some wood, cut it to size, painted it to match, fitted it on top of the concrete spacer things, and remounted the fence. Then I heard her screeching down the phone to her son (in his 50s) about this fence, and him and her daughter drove over, came stomping out into the garden shouting, and then shut up and said 'It's a nice fence mum, what are you complaining about, it is loads better than the carp you had up', and she said ' it was my fence, they had no business touching it':rotfl:
She managed to con a whole new fence out of me by making me think it was my fence and it was upsetting her. So I was glad she didn't like it. Cheeky mare.

Now I know, when looking at your house from the street, you are responsible for the LEFT hand fence. You live and learn!

apple_muncher

Yikes, f0xh0les, who'd've figured you'd be conned by an 80+ yo!

I know my neighbour that side would be ornery. Just because she is. And she has one volume - set at 11, so it''s no surprise the kid is as it is. It's our fence, but we'd lose so much sunlight (not a lot of it for most of the year anyway) that I don't want to put up a solid block. I've moved the bench between the tree and the compost bin and put some pots on it,but they still only just reach the top of the fence. Maybe I need to tomato-feed them! Plastic bunting (so it doesn't get ruined by rain) has made me feel a little better. And the child has not been stood on their slide/climbing thing demanding attention or shouting at kids out the back today. Reckon it's cos the dad was home today.

But I shall definitely be making plans for growing tall things for next year...

indigowarrior

Mothernerd my idea of a pamper session is a bath. I find stuff like that really difficult.
Today was an NSD! Yay. I was frustrated though as was meant to have a visit from the crisis team and they never showed due to an emergency. I am thankful I wasn't said emergency though.
Have decided to experiment with my budget and split any money left after paying bills into 4. I find since I switched to UC that I am stressing a bit more because money has to last longer. I have three main bills one that should have been paid off already. I am going to clear the rest off on my next payment day which is the 21st. I have £80 to last until then. However, a fully stocked freezer. So I am not concerned. I am due to see my mental health worker on Wednesday so will discuss the plan with her.

Ideally I would like Wednesday to be my next spend day but I will see.

mothernerd

gien, apple and ccl thank you for your kind comments on my posts.


Munchin you are welcome to use the list, I don't own it. I sometimes eat things that are good for me even when I can't remember why. currently adding handfuls of baby spinach to evry wrap I make.


greent yummy food.


littleskintdragon making lots of progress


bizzie friendly neighbours are so important


DawnW I have freezer envy, although I did find a portion of chilli and a portion of bacon soup in mine (lots of big bags of veg with the odd someting interesting buried underneath).


Toni'sfriend cake calories will soon be gone


Dolly84 I have been looking round the cs but not found anything recently. Most of my basics need replacing. Have promised myself new t-shirts for the past 3 years, my summer cardi looks very tired, there are holes in one of my better dresses (marks and bobbles on some). Will carry on wearing them until they are only fit for rags but may need something smarter (but summery) for doctor's visits and the like (and hol with mum). Think I need to look better (smarter) to feel better - get such a shock when I see myself in a shop window. Due to the magnificent bosom, I think I am much slimmer than I actually am - looking forward and down I see my feet not the protruding belly and if I look to the sides, I can't see my hips sticking out.


Kerry woman thanks for the hug


cybertortoise my laptop keeps cutting out without warning. Think the battery is dying but may be a power/ internet problem because i have to keep reconnecting myself.


f0xh0les the fence story sounds familiar. I am proud to declare thatNo unicorns were injured in the making of this thread.

indigowarrior

mothernerd wrote: »

[

f0xh0les the fence story sounds familiar. I am proud to declare thatNo unicorns were injured in the making of this thread.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

LavenderBee

A: Actually I have made a personal purchase this month; I have had my eye on a book since it came out in February. The new and secondhand prices have not come down so I opted to spend £4.99 on an eBook (DH was so shocked when I told him he had to sit down!). It is Low Cost Living so I figured if I garner £4.99 of money saving tips it'll pay for itself

J: 2/10 NSDs
U: We're not wasting food; and I've had DH eating rice twice this weekend which bulked out our meals for pennies
N: None so far!
E: Not had any real rubbish, meals have been sensible and vegetably. Daily biscuit still consumed as ever but if you don't get biscuits at 9 months preggo when do you get them?! We had a cake but it was homemade by muggings and shared widely with family.

O: Sat with DH's elderly granma for a few hours on Saturday afternoon, gave her someone else to talk to, bless her her short term memory is poor now
No debts, savings payment made
E: DH and I "did" the garden today; I did as much as I could though digging with my foot was difficult and when I bend over I can't breath DH was lovely and kept making me sit down on my sunlounger with my swollen feet up. Lovely to be out and getting vitamin D.
S: Done, everything looking OK so far
S: DH put coins in charity bucket at supermarket
E: Hmmm, doesn't happen at weekends. I only get 2 days each week with DH in the same county and I don't open my laptop on those two days.
Y:

Grateful for:
- Lots of good advice on this thread this month already! Thank you to mothernerd for the to do list advice. At the beginning of each month I set up a page in my notebook where I record my NSDs, budgets, savings, and a to do list for the month. Far too much stuff rolls from month to month so I'm going to pick one manageable task per day. Otherwise I spend 6 days feeling daunted, guilty, doing nothing, then day 7 I try and do everything and get 3 things done, if I'm lucky.
- Sunshine - garden looks great thanks to DH's efforts. Spent an afternoon with family in their garden
- Foot feeling like it might just heal

Hugs to those that need them, and hope you enjoy your holiday Lauren

mothernerd

apple_muncher wrote: »

Yikes, f0xh0les, who'd've figured you'd be conned by an 80+ yo!

I know my neighbour that side would be ornery. Just because she is. And she has one volume - set at 11, so it''s no surprise the kid is as it is. It's our fence, but we'd lose so much sunlight (not a lot of it for most of the year anyway) that I don't want to put up a solid block. I've moved the bench between the tree and the compost bin and put some pots on it,but they still only just reach the top of the fence. Maybe I need to tomato-feed them! Plastic bunting (so it doesn't get ruined by rain) has made me feel a little better. And the child has not been stood on their slide/climbing thing demanding attention or shouting at kids out the back today. Reckon it's cos the dad was home today.

But I shall definitely be making plans for growing tall things for next year...

A few years ago, my left hand side neighbour had an affair with the man on my right hand side. She left her husband, got a council house and then moved in with Mr right hand man within a month. The children were shuttled between them but many of the divorce arguments were shouted across my garden. One day she harangued me, saying that DS1 had taught her DS2 some swear words. I am very quiet but won't hold my tongue forever. I suggested that she listen to herself as every other word out of her mouth was a swear word and that was the source. There was a man on the car park laughing his head off.

indigowarrior wrote: »

Mothernerd my idea of a pamper session is a bath. I find stuff like that really difficult.
Today was an NSD! Yay. I was frustrated though as was meant to have a visit from the crisis team and they never showed due to an emergency. I am thankful I wasn't said emergency though.
Have decided to experiment with my budget and split any money left after paying bills into 4. I find since I switched to UC that I am stressing a bit more because money has to last longer. I have three main bills one that should have been paid off already. I am going to clear the rest off on my next payment day which is the 21st. I have £80 to last until then. However, a fully stocked freezer. So I am not concerned. I am due to see my mental health worker on Wednesday so will discuss the plan with her.

Ideally I would like Wednesday to be my next spend day but I will see.

Me too on the pampering, but I also have very dry skin so I sometimes take the time to rub lotion into all the bits that get neglected. The fact that I had broken most of my fingernails

alerted me to the state of my hands.



You could also read, have a lie in, pick out something nice to eat (that's good for you and helps your mood), watch a film or tv series. Do you have something to cuddle if you need it. when my aunt was ill I bought her a hot water bottle but I bought one in a giant Bugs bunny cover - it was practical but as well as giving warmth, she could cuddle it when she was not well. Wear clothes that comfort you or that give you a boost and make you feel good.




I have not done much today (could not sleep last night). My knees especially were creaky and it is just so hot. Beloved has been on the internet all day (usually gets up between 11pm and midnight, plays during the night and goes to sleep before noon) and I've heard her say to other players that it's too hot to sleep despite having two fans trained on her and the window open.


Tried to do a bit of everything, ate from the freezer (have also taken out frozen berries and cooked meat to defrost), half filled the green bin with armfuls of weeds, doen some domestic stuff, counted all my wool squares and worked out some tentative layouts for the blankets (may start pinning together later). Must have caught my hand doing the garden so have covered the scratches with cream.


Noticed it had gone quiet (beloved has been summoned downstairs as their pizza had arrived) so sneaked in grabbed an armful of DS3s t-shirts, his old jacket, some shirts (one's only been worn once, needed it for something at school) and 3 kimonos he hasn't worn in years. Had to wade through a one foot deep pile of washing to get to the wardrobe. pulled a few plastic bottles out too but much more recycling in there.


Today I am grateful for lovely food, finding my bank card (no panic because I knew it must be in the house), for crossing a couple of bits off mum's list, for mostly having the use of my arms and legs.